RoboCop (1988 video game)

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RoboCop
File:RoboCop arcade flyer.jpg
North American arcade flyer
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Data East
  • Data East
    (Arcade/MS-DOS/NES/Apple II)
    Ocean Software
    (Amiga/Atari ST/C64/CPC/ZX Spectrum)
    Erbe Software
    (MS-DOS/MSX)
    Tandy Corporation
    (TRS-80 CoCo)
    Game Boy
Designer(s) Yoshiyuki Urushibara
Programmer(s) Ryōji Minagawa
Artist(s) Tomoo Adachi
Composer(s) Hiroaki Yoshida
Hitomi Komatsu
Shogo Sakai (NES)
Jon Dunn (ZX Spectrum, Game Boy and C64)
Series RoboCop
Platforms
Release date(s)
  • Arcade
    • JP: November 1, 1988[1]
    • WW: November 1988
    Amstrad CPC, MSX
    • EU: December 1988
    Apple II
    • NA: December 1988
    ZX Spectrum Commodore 64
    • EU: December 1988[3]
    • NA: 12 December 1989
    Atari ST
    • EU: 1989
    MS-DOS, TRS-80 CoCo
    • NA: 1989
    Amiga NES
    • JP: 25 August 1989[4]
    • NA: 19 December 1989
    • EU: 25 April 1991
    Game Boy
    • NA: December 1990
    • EU: 1990
    • JP: 1 March 1991[5]
Genre(s) Beat 'em up, run and gun
Mode(s) Single-player
Multiplayer (not in all versions)
Arcade system Data East MEC-M1[6]

RoboCop is a beat 'em up/run-and-gun action game developed and published by Data East for arcades in 1988, based on the 1987 film of the same name.[7][8] It was sub-licensed to Data East by Ocean Software, who obtained the rights from Orion Pictures at the script stage.[3][9] Data East and Ocean Software subsequently adapted the arcade game for home computers.

The game was a critical and commercial success. The arcade game was the highest-grossing arcade game of 1988 in Hong Kong, and reached number-two on Japan's monthly Game Machine arcade charts. On home computers, the game sold over 1 million copies worldwide, and it was especially successful in the United Kingdom where it was the best-selling home computer game of the 1980s.

Gameplay

File:Robocoparc.png
Arcade screenshot

The gameplay is similar to Data East's arcade game Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja, released earlier the same year.[10] Robocop includes elements from both beat 'em up and run and gun games.

Release

In 1988, Ocean adapted Data East's Robocop arcade game for 8-bit home computers, converting much of the arcade game while also adding original content to make it different to the arcade original.[9] This version was produced for the Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Tandy Color Computer 3, Amstrad CPC, and IBM PC compatibles, meaning that home computers ended up with two different versions of Robocop for North American and European audiences.

Ports for the Apple II, IBM PC compatibles, Amiga, and Atari ST, NES, and Color Computer 3 followed in 1989. The Apple II and IBM PC ports were developed by Quicksilver Software, while the Amiga and Atari ST versions were developed directly by Ocean. The NES version was developed by Sakata SAS Co, and Ocean developed and published a version for the Game Boy in 1990. A port of the game for the Atari Jaguar was planned but never released.[11][12]

Data East published the game in North America.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
Publication Score
CVG 95%[13]
Crash 92%[14]
Sinclair User 94%[15]
Your Sinclair 8/10[16]
ACE 807/1000[17]
The Games Machine 81%[18]
Awards
Publication Award
Crash Crash Smash
Computer and Video Games Game of the Month

RoboCop was a commercial success in arcades, especially in Hong Kong where it was the highest-grossing arcade game of 1988.[19] In Japan, Game Machine listed RoboCop on their February 1, 1989 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the month.[20]

On home computers, the game sold over 1 million copies worldwide. It was especially successful in the United Kingdom, where it was the best-selling home computer game of the 1980s.[9] The ZX Spectrum version in particular was the best-selling home video game of 1989.[21] The ZX Spectrum RoboCop was one of the biggest selling games of all time on that platform and remained in the Spectrum software sales charts for over a year and a half;[22] it entered the charts in December 1988[23] and was still in the top five in February 1991.[24] It also topped the UK all-format charts for a record 36 weeks until it was knocked off the number one position by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in August 1989.[25]

The arcade game was critically well-received.[10] The ZX Spectrum version also achieved critical acclaim, receiving a CRASH Smash award from CRASH,[26] 94% in Sinclair User[15] and Your Sinclair gave 8.8 out of 10,[27] also placing it at number 94 in the Your Sinclair official top 100. The overall opinion was that it captures the original material, with smooth scrolling and animation, sampled speech and sound effects highlighted.

The readers of YS voted it the 9th best game of all time.[28]

The title theme of the Ocean Software versions (composed by Jonathan Dunn) has become well known for its serene, calm tune, which heavily contrasted the tone of both the actual game and the source material; the version of the theme heard in the Game Boy port was later licensed by European kitchen appliance company Ariston for use in a series of TV adverts.[29] The song was also used as the theme song for Charlie Brooker's documentary, How Videogames Changed the World,[30] and was one of Brooker's selections on Desert Island Discs. It was also used as the music for the Internet short, "Dilbert 3"[29] and was sampled in Lil B's song, "In Down Bad", from his mixtape "White Flame".[29][31]

References

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  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ "The YS Complete Guide To Shoot-'em-ups Part II" Archived July 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine from Your Sinclair issue 56, August 1990; retrieved from The Your Sinclair Rock 'n' Roll Years
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ RoboCop Archived 2018-08-28 at the Wayback Machine review from CRASH issue 59, December 1988; retrieved from CRASH Online
  27. ↑ RoboCop Archived March 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine review from Your Sinclair issue 39, March 1989; retrieved from The Your Sinclair Rock 'n' Roll Years
  28. ↑ Your Sinclair magazine issue 93, Future Publishing, September 1993, page 58
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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